Travel Day

Flew out for the AAS meeting today (American Astronomical Society). They ended up cancelling my flight, but fortunately I was there early enough that I could get on an earlier flight. I ended up getting in to Atlanta an hour earlier than I was scheduled to.

Normally I hate flying, but the crew had a bit of fun with our flight today, so it wasn’t as bad. First, there were several seats available in first class, so the flight attendant collected all the boarding pass stubs, and had a drawing for a seat in first class. They also drew for a sleeve of cookies. Later, after the beverage service, a flight attendant came through asking if anyone would like to play “Let’s Make a Deal”. From anyone saying yes, she asked for various items — a Sam’s Club card, a book of stamps, etc. From me, she asked for a AAA card, so I won a tiny bottle of Bailey’s. Yay! Never mind that it was still before 10 AM — that Bailey’s was quite good.

I was going to meet JD at the baggage claim, mostly as protection from the weirdos that I seem to attract. Unfortunately, his flight was an hour late. So, with my flight an hour early, and his an hour late, I ended up reading in baggage claim for over two hours. Oh well. It was either that, or read in my hotel.

After I connected with JD, and, as it turned out, 3 other people from HEASARC, we took the MARTA to the hotels. After checking in, we started setting-up the booths, even though it was well past 2 PM and we hadn’t had lunch yet. After getting much of the set-up done, we went off for lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe — it was close, open, and easy to find. After a bit more set-up, I headed back to my room, vegging out for the evening. Currently, I’m debating whether to get some dinner or not. I don’t want to leave, and the room service is not cheap. Maybe I could order a pizza….